Next up: University of Kentucky
By John Bach
| UC |  |
| Jason Maxiell buries the
first three-pointer of his career. photos/Andrew Higley |
Big Ten, meet Big Max.
UC senior Jason Maxiell may have picked the perfect moment to peak.
The 6-7 forward used the opening game of the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis
Thursday to hoist the Bearcats onto his broad shoulders and power them
to a convincing 76-64 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Maxiell finished the game with 22 points, nine rebounds and six blocked
shots. And though he has been dominant at times this year, at no point
has his presence been felt quite like the waning minutes inside the
RCA Dome March 17, 2005.
With less than three minutes to go, Maxiell pulled up for his first
career three-pointer. The shot came seconds after he pulled down a rebound
at the opposite end — on the heels of two straight blocked shots
in the same defensive stand. No. 54 also scored the Bearcats' next five
straight points on a crowd-pleasing one-handed dunk and his second career
three-pointer.
After the game, Iowa coach Steve Alford credited UC's accuracy from
behind the arc as the big difference in the struggle. Cincinnati rattled
in nine of 18 treys for the game, including two straight by Nick Williams
who quelled Iowa's only serious threat. Williams stretched UC's lead
back to nine two minutes into the second half after the Hawkeyes had
closed the gap to 35-32.
Iowa players said it was UC's defense and athleticism that controlled
the game's tempo. UC held the Hawkeyes to less than 34 percent shooting
on the afternoon — a frustration most of UC's opponents share,
considering the Bearcats entered the game with the nation's top field-goal
percentage defense (.371).
"I thought their defense was really good," Iowa junior Jeff
Horner said. "They were just long and athletic. We don't usually
play a lot of teams like that (in the Big Ten)."
Next up: the highly anticipated tilt with the University of Kentucky
Wildcats Saturday — a pairing, despite the proximity of the two
power programs, that hasn't occurred in 15 years.
"It means a lot (to play UK)," said junior Eric Hicks. "Ever
since I got here I wondered why we don't play them. They are a great
team. I'm looking forward to coming out and battling. May the best team
win."
It is the one question that seems to follow both programs.
"Everybody asks, why we don't play UK," Maxiell said. "I
have fans come up and say, 'my wife is a UK fan and I'm a UC fan.' That
game is going to be very intense, crowded, loud and fun."
Coach Bob Huggins said he has spoken to UK coach Tubby Smith about playing
one another. "Tubby has said he isn't opposed to the game,"
said Huggins. "It just hasn't worked out. They have a lot of non-conference
commitments."
Huggins sitting on 399 wins, couldn't ask for a bigger game to record
his 400th victory. UC, 25-7, is a No. 7 seed and will get its shot at
UK, 26-5 and a No. 2 seed, at 8:10 p.m. Saturday.
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